Question:
Does anyone else have this problem? dizzy shakey
Once in a while i'll get light headed, shakey, and break out in a cold sweat yet feel hot. Then if I eat something such as a half peanut butter sandwich with a little milk I get over the dizziness, shakes, and sweats - then I just get cold then once I just lay under a blanket and relax I feel so much better. Does anyone get that? I never had it until after my WLS surgery. I'm 2.5 years post op. Not at goal weight unfortunatly, maybe someday. But thought I'd ask the question, cuz it's just wierd to me. It's like i'm low in something....not sure. I take all my protiens and vitamins......HMMMM! Maybe someone can give me some insite! Thanks much! — Jonna M. (posted on January 14, 2004)
January 14, 2004
Have you had your blood sugar checked during one of these episodes? The
easiest thing to do is check your blood sugar and blood pressure at the
onset of the episode.
— Denise B.
January 14, 2004
i suffer from the sme thing & in my case, i have realized that this
happens when i have gone too long without eating. once i eat (protein of
course) i start to feel much better & yes, sometimes i get very cold
& start to shiver. when i eat on a regular schedule, this does not
happen at all, so i figure it has something to do with all my 'body
resources' being depleted & then re-plenished & my body is probably
trying to make some quick adjustments of going from one extreme to another.
— sheryl titone
January 14, 2004
Many of us longer terms posties deal with reactive hypoglycemia. Doesn't
seem to make any difference if we eat carbs or not (sugar makes a
difference), whether we just ate, are drinking or just drank a protein
shake (no carbs), 10 min, 30 minutes....... how do you fight an enemy you
can't SEE? It's part of the physical portion of our disease, which is a
pancreas that doesn't work quite right. The Grad list is people who are 1+
years out posting, though anyone can lurk. Many successful posties today
started out as lurkers on this list PRE-OP. This is one of the things that
is dicussed fairly often. Here's the link:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Graduate-OSSG
— vitalady
January 14, 2004
This is probably much too obvious to be helpful, but it sounds like plain
ol' dumping to me. All of those symptoms are what happens to me when I
overindulge on carbs or sweets. Could that be the culprit?
— AmyL
January 14, 2004
Sounds exactly like hypoglycemia. You should definitely get it checked out
with your doctor.
— Carol S.
January 14, 2004
Try eating more frequently --small meals every 2-3 hours. It also sounds
like dumping --are you eating sugar or things that contain sugar alchohol?
You can have your blood sugar checked but the doctors will tell you to eat
more frequently.
— debmi
January 14, 2004
have yor dr check you out. many things can cause dizziness etc.
hypoglycemia being only one of them.
— **willow**
January 15, 2004
Like Michelle said below, it seems somewhat common for this to happen. And
true, it's never consistent and just happens sometimes and you don't know
why. I'm almost 3 and a half years post-op and it started happening to me
at about 2 years out. Even now, it's only happened maybe 6 times. I've
checked my blood sugar when it's happened, and sure enough, it's between
40-50. I get the shakes, dizziness, black spots in front of my eyes, want
to lay down and sleep and cover up because I get cold. Mention it to your
doctor so he/she can do some tests to be sure that this is the problem and
they'll educate you on what to do to try and prevent it and what to do when
it happens (like carrying some food with you). Very likely they'll tell
you to be SURE to eat your 6 small meals a day (the appropriate foods, of
course), just like a diabetic has to do. When it happens to me I just eat
something, lay down, cover up and feel better after napping 15-20 minutes
or so. Good luck to you!
— Lynette B.
January 15, 2004
I have had this happen. I carry a vending size opackage of M&Ms in my
van. 3 or 4 M&Ms helps a lot. The trouble is having them around I want
to eat the entire bag:( I had this happen in front of customer once and
that why I added the candy onboard. I do beliee the customer thought I was
on drugs or something. I couldnt put a screw in a hole. I had skipped a
meal that day because I was so busy, that inceesases the chance of it
occuruing
— bob-haller
January 15, 2004
I am actually seeing an endocrinologist on the 29th for this reason
(reactive hypoglycemia). Like Michelle said, it doesn't seem to matter
what I eat or when I eat, I can get these episodes. The quickest fix is
candy but I really hate to do that. One time I was physically shaking and
sweating and almost incohererent and took a large spoon of icecream and it
subsided after a minute or so (and the ice cream felt good because I was
hot and yet having cold sweats). Some days I have NO reaction at all no
matter what I eat, but it is different from day to day even if I eat the
same food at the same time from one day to the next (I try to eat six small
meals well balanced with protein and carbs). On Monday of this week I was
"off" all day and fighting the full blown reaction with melba
toast and peanut butter...never had a full blown attack but kept feeling it
"coming on". On Tuesday I felt fine. On Wednesday I ate the
same thing at the same time as Monday and Tuesday and had several full
blown reactions in the late morning/early afternoon that were cured by
Starburst candies (I try to go for the smallest, non-chocolate candy I can
find and a coworker had these). I could FEEL my blood sugar going up and
down weird as that sounds. I've kept a food diary and there seems to be no
rhyme or reason to it. I hope the endo can shed some light on it. My PCP
says true hypoglycemia is very rare but what I've described to her sounds
like it (says she) and she gave me the referral to the endo.
— susanje
January 16, 2004
I just wanted to add that this was discussed at one of my support group
meetings. We were informed it was a form of hypoglycemia. We were told
that we should always carry a tube of vanilla cake icing in our car or
person at all times. It has to be vanilla and the regular icing that you
can buy in the tube. Apparently paramedics are starting to now carry this
with them instead of juice or candy, etc for people who have hypoglycemic
episodes. You are just to squeeze a small amt under your tongue. It goes
straight into your blood stream, raises sugar level immediately. The
problem with candy or juice is that it can take too long. Just some info i
got and I carry with me. Hope it might help
— patti R.
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